I've been extremely negligent in keeping up with this blog. The school year sapped all of my creative writing energy. If I posted articles the content would of been "The Concept of Hierarchy in Paradise Lost" or "Don Quixote as a Satire in Romance Form." So basically, y'all can thank me I did not post unless you wanted something to read before bed to make you sleepy. Now school is slowing down and therefore my creative writing is speeding up. It's an inversely proportional relationship.
Spring is finally arriving and today marked the great event in the Curtis home called, "First Toad of the Year Discovery." The award went to William. To ensure that we all got to share in the momentous occasion, he released the toad in all of our rooms so we could enjoy chasing it around therefore truly experiencing the essence of spring. The leaves are still absent and frosts still popping up in the forecast but folks, springtime his here! The toad has spoken. It's kind of like Groundhog Day (but really not)
With that said, I want to wish you all a "Happy Spring!" (unless you live in North Dakota where it's still snowing hahahahah) and wish myself a "Welcome back!" from completely drowning in academia.
Thank you for giving me a moment of your time.
~CMC
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Life in a Big Family (Humor speech)
I wrote this as a humorous speech for a public speaking club, and thought I'd share it on my blog.
Life in a big family can only be described as entertaining, terrifying, bizarre, ridiculous, boisterous, humorous, lively, unique, whimsical, frightening, stupefying, magnificent, horrible and wonderful. Most of you here know just what I’m talking about. After all, we live in Boone...where people have really taken that “Be fruitful and multiply” command seriously. Boone is the only place I know of where you can say, ‘Yeah, we ONLY have five kids in our family...”
Do y’all ever feel like the human counterpart for “Make Way for the Ducklings when you take a trip into town?”
Do you have to triple every recipe you make and just the thought of making food for only two people completely is overwhelming because you don’t even know how to go about that?
And of course, you’re never done doing laundry. Ever. Ever. Ever. That used to be my singular birthday wish when blowing out candles as a small, overworked child, “I wish I would never have to fold laundry again!” I think it was opposite day or something when I wished that... ‘cause it sure seemed to backfire on me.
Another big family indicator is you also can’t even count on 4 hands how many accidents and injuries your family has had. OK...well maybe that’s just us... It was always terrifying being the child who was chosen to go tell Mom that one of the kids got hurt. We avoided it as much as possible. Emma and even learned how to put Hannah’s elbow back in socket when she dislocated it when we were only 6 and 8 years old. The real skill was being able to pop it back in before Mom heard all the screaming and came outside. But our very best 7 year old paramedic trick was, “It’s fine, be calm. Shh stop hollering like a dying cow or Mom will hear you and come out!! I’ll just pinch your arm realllyyyy hard then you’ll forget about that huge gash on your foot because your arm hurts worse! Okay??” Even with all of these efforts to keep Mom blissfully ignorant, She still found out about Emma’s broken wrist, Hannah falling out of a two story window, my cracked pinkie, Hannah’s broken clavicle, the deep cut on Ava’s face, my broken rib, Will’s broken nose x2...and I could go on and on. Yeah, we know most of the staff at Watauga Medical center on a first name basis.
Also, living in a big family you learn fast that you have to quickly, loudly and threateningly claim any items that belong to you to prevent them being taken, broken, or eaten. Even then, your personal belongings are not safe. When Will gets up from the table for a minute,
he stands on his chair and proclaims, “EVERYONE! This is my food. I claim it!!! OK? So nobody eat it. Chloe will you make sure nobody eats my food? And nobody hide it somewhere. Um actually, Mom, will you come watch my plate?”
Traveling anywhere is a huge ordeal. Due to time restraints, I won’t even go into the horrors that accompany being crammed in the back of the Suburban... When we go visit Nannie up in the DC area, the neighbors come over and ask if a new family moved in from the looks of all the luggage being unloaded. “Nope, we’re just the crazy Curtis’s from NC, and we’re only here for 2 days...” Actually, just the other day, my Nannie’s neighbor in the townhouse adjacent to hers was moving and came over to say goodbye. He thanked her for being a nice, quiet neighbor. “In fact,” he told her, “I never heard a thing from you. Well....except for when all those kids came to visit a couple times. Then it got a little rowdy...” Of course, “All those little kids” were us.
Food acquisition and production in a larger family is not only an ordeal, but it is also a fine art attempting to make the monthly food bill less than the mortgage. To prevent that from happening, we wake up at before the crack of dawn and travel down to the warmer lands to pick 30 gallons of strawberries for only $4 a gallon, order flour in 50 lb bags, buy milk from the local dairy and visit sketchy produce shacks in odd places with wholesale prices. You know the “Thou shalt not covet” commandment? Most normal people would think about coveting a nice car or something. Nope, not here. If there is any coveting going on, it’s coveting thy neighbor's efficient canning system or super fast-super-quiet wheat berry grinder or the sweet deal the so-and-so family got on apples this year.
As many of you know, hard work is essential to keep any family running smoothly, large or small. One of the biggest compliments we can give each other is, “You were so efficient and productive today!” Mom likes to jokingly tell us, “If you can’t work and think at the same time, then BY ALL MEANS, DON’T THINK!” As soon as we stand still for just a moment, not doing anything, guilt washes over us and we begin to search frantically for something to clean, someone to spank....anything to escape the extreme mortification of being labeled “inefficient.” In Mom’s defense, we do have a lot of fun times together, and she has taught us that hard work can be very rewarding.
Speaking of having fun times, it’s an enigma to me how almost every game we play turns “extreme” very quickly. “Extreme Boggle tournaments” “Extreme go-fish competition 101 with a side game of tackle football and other terrifying elements”...you know what I mean.
Not a day goes by where I’m not thankful for my big-ish, wonderful family. Of course, being the oldest child and getting all the new clothes was nice too...
Life in a big family can only be described as entertaining, terrifying, bizarre, ridiculous, boisterous, humorous, lively, unique, whimsical, frightening, stupefying, magnificent, horrible and wonderful. Most of you here know just what I’m talking about. After all, we live in Boone...where people have really taken that “Be fruitful and multiply” command seriously. Boone is the only place I know of where you can say, ‘Yeah, we ONLY have five kids in our family...”
Do y’all ever feel like the human counterpart for “Make Way for the Ducklings when you take a trip into town?”
Do you have to triple every recipe you make and just the thought of making food for only two people completely is overwhelming because you don’t even know how to go about that?
And of course, you’re never done doing laundry. Ever. Ever. Ever. That used to be my singular birthday wish when blowing out candles as a small, overworked child, “I wish I would never have to fold laundry again!” I think it was opposite day or something when I wished that... ‘cause it sure seemed to backfire on me.
Another big family indicator is you also can’t even count on 4 hands how many accidents and injuries your family has had. OK...well maybe that’s just us... It was always terrifying being the child who was chosen to go tell Mom that one of the kids got hurt. We avoided it as much as possible. Emma and even learned how to put Hannah’s elbow back in socket when she dislocated it when we were only 6 and 8 years old. The real skill was being able to pop it back in before Mom heard all the screaming and came outside. But our very best 7 year old paramedic trick was, “It’s fine, be calm. Shh stop hollering like a dying cow or Mom will hear you and come out!! I’ll just pinch your arm realllyyyy hard then you’ll forget about that huge gash on your foot because your arm hurts worse! Okay??” Even with all of these efforts to keep Mom blissfully ignorant, She still found out about Emma’s broken wrist, Hannah falling out of a two story window, my cracked pinkie, Hannah’s broken clavicle, the deep cut on Ava’s face, my broken rib, Will’s broken nose x2...and I could go on and on. Yeah, we know most of the staff at Watauga Medical center on a first name basis.
Also, living in a big family you learn fast that you have to quickly, loudly and threateningly claim any items that belong to you to prevent them being taken, broken, or eaten. Even then, your personal belongings are not safe. When Will gets up from the table for a minute,
he stands on his chair and proclaims, “EVERYONE! This is my food. I claim it!!! OK? So nobody eat it. Chloe will you make sure nobody eats my food? And nobody hide it somewhere. Um actually, Mom, will you come watch my plate?”
Traveling anywhere is a huge ordeal. Due to time restraints, I won’t even go into the horrors that accompany being crammed in the back of the Suburban... When we go visit Nannie up in the DC area, the neighbors come over and ask if a new family moved in from the looks of all the luggage being unloaded. “Nope, we’re just the crazy Curtis’s from NC, and we’re only here for 2 days...” Actually, just the other day, my Nannie’s neighbor in the townhouse adjacent to hers was moving and came over to say goodbye. He thanked her for being a nice, quiet neighbor. “In fact,” he told her, “I never heard a thing from you. Well....except for when all those kids came to visit a couple times. Then it got a little rowdy...” Of course, “All those little kids” were us.
Food acquisition and production in a larger family is not only an ordeal, but it is also a fine art attempting to make the monthly food bill less than the mortgage. To prevent that from happening, we wake up at before the crack of dawn and travel down to the warmer lands to pick 30 gallons of strawberries for only $4 a gallon, order flour in 50 lb bags, buy milk from the local dairy and visit sketchy produce shacks in odd places with wholesale prices. You know the “Thou shalt not covet” commandment? Most normal people would think about coveting a nice car or something. Nope, not here. If there is any coveting going on, it’s coveting thy neighbor's efficient canning system or super fast-super-quiet wheat berry grinder or the sweet deal the so-and-so family got on apples this year.
As many of you know, hard work is essential to keep any family running smoothly, large or small. One of the biggest compliments we can give each other is, “You were so efficient and productive today!” Mom likes to jokingly tell us, “If you can’t work and think at the same time, then BY ALL MEANS, DON’T THINK!” As soon as we stand still for just a moment, not doing anything, guilt washes over us and we begin to search frantically for something to clean, someone to spank....anything to escape the extreme mortification of being labeled “inefficient.” In Mom’s defense, we do have a lot of fun times together, and she has taught us that hard work can be very rewarding.
Speaking of having fun times, it’s an enigma to me how almost every game we play turns “extreme” very quickly. “Extreme Boggle tournaments” “Extreme go-fish competition 101 with a side game of tackle football and other terrifying elements”...you know what I mean.
Not a day goes by where I’m not thankful for my big-ish, wonderful family. Of course, being the oldest child and getting all the new clothes was nice too...
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Nicaragua! Part Two ~First Days in Matagalpa~
Nicaragua! Part Two ~First Days in Matagalpa ~
After two days of constant travel, we were ready to get going with our work. Wake up time was a little early for me personally, since I am NOT a morning person. At all. Ever. I actually got pretty used to waking up early, and within a couple days it felt totally normal. I really shouldn't of titled my post "First few days in Matagalpa" instead I should of called it 'First few days using Matagalpa as our home base". (But that's too long and drawn out for a title!) Our first destination was the town of Muy Muy, about an hours bus ride from where we were staying. The landscape we passed looked like something out of an animated movie. The mountains looked unrealistic in their unique beauty. After winding (or should I say zooming and falling out of our bus seats) through the countryside, we reached the town. It happened to be Nicaragua's equivalent of Independence Day, and tons of people were out on the streets havin' and good ole time, and lighting off fireworks. (We never did understand the point of lighting off fireworks in broad daylight, and their celebrations got nothin' on 4th of July back home) The roads were very muddy and narrow, but of course our bus driver didn't have any trouble navigating them. Everyone split up into 3 groups: Outreach, Vacation Bible School and Construction. I choose construction. Our first church was a little slow going since most of us didn't know the drill yet, but people caught on pretty quickly. The one-day churches are very simple and easy to construct. It was the rainy season, and torrents of rain would randomly come, but disappear in a few moments. The rain wasn't really a problem, but it made the work site very muddy. By the end of the day, I was a couple inches taller 'cause of all the mud stuck on the bottom of my boots. Little kids would crowd around, and some invited us into their homes. My second day in Muy Muy, I went into this one little girl's home, and sat in there for about 30 minutes with her and her Mom and brother. They didn't know a lick of English, and my Spanish is pretty limited. We still communicated the bare minimum and did a lot of smiling and pantomiming. It was very sweet, because the little girl brought out one of her only toys and tried to give it to me. I didn't take it, but was touched by her generosity, and really saw a glimpse of God in her. I wished I had something to give her, so I left her with one of my bracelets. I came to Nicaragua with an armful of bracelets, and returned with only one. Meanwhile, in these first few days, our group started to become really close. I have to say, I miss all of them (most of them) a ton.
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| A pretty nice house |
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| Typical Nicaraguan home |
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| Loved the scenery |
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| Church #1! |
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| Holding the trusses! |
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| Workin' hard. :) |
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| These boys were so cute, they gave me one of their marbles. |
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| Kids everywhere!! |
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| Team Matagalpa in front of completed structure #1. Woo! |
Friday, August 10, 2012
Nicaragua! Part One (the Journey to Matagalpa)
About 10 days ago, I arrived home from Nicaragua. The trip was incredible. I made countless memories. I want to share on my blog about my experience there, but I have so much to say I'm gonna split it into a few different parts.
I left Charlotte, NC sometime in the afternoon on July 17th. After a 3 hour layover in Miami (and some entertaining rides on the SkyTrain) I met up with other Ultimate Workout kids. I instantly made connections with some of them, and we were fast friends. After clearing customs and getting through the passport checks in Managua, Nicaragua, we were greeted very loudly and enthusiastically by other UW's. By now, it's nightime and we were all exhausted and very hungry. Finally, a group of us loaded up on an old school-bus (the favorite Nicaraguan form of transportation) and started the trek to a SDA school, where we spent the night. We had out first taste of Nicaraguan bus driving, which we would all come to love and actually prefer to safe, boring American driving. We arrived at the school, which was off of a crazy dirt road (we ran over a chicken on the way...) and settled in for the night. It was hot as all get out, and huge moths and other large bugs terrorized some of the girls. Screams were heard throughout the building, and the boys tried to heroically kill/catch/destroy the bugs without much success. The next morning, after a dubious breakfast, our group loaded up on a sketchy bus (there were pictures of the Twin Towers blowing up and Osama bin Laden smiling down from heaven on the back...) and got stuck in the driveway for about 20 minutes. The bus was overloaded and bottomed out. Not a good way to start out the trip, but it was pretty indicative of the way it was gonna be the rest of the way. The bus ride was only supposed to be 3 hours long. ("Supposed" to be) Within moments, a heated discussion was under way as we all argued about which was better: USA or Canada. That remained a hot-topic for the entirety of the trip. Anytime there was a moment of silence, somebody would bring up the odd Canadian accents, or the funny southern accents, American ingenuity vs. Canadian ingenuity, Oh Canada vs. Star Spangled Banner. Football vs. Hockey. ect. ect. (All I can say is "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free!!!")
The bus broke down about 2 hours into the trip. We were stranded at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere for 5 hours. (It was a rather odd place..drug paraphernalia was scattered on the ground) It was a bonding experience! We found ways to entertain ourselves and all got to know each other. Finally, after the bus was fixed we loaded back up and continued on to Matagalpa, our destination. Once again, that's easier said than done. Along the way, we passed beautiful, lush, green countryside. Soon, if began to rain for the second time that day and we all got a little worried. To get to the school where we'd be staying, the bus would have to ford a river. We reached the river, and lo and behold it was too deep for the bus to cross. After and hour of waiting (During that time I traipsed around the woods looking for a place to use the bathroom) our luggage was brought over in a pick-up truck, and a lot got soaking wet. Next, all 30 of us crowded into the same pick-up tuck (at once) and we were all transported up the river to the our final location. Bonding experience. We all were thankful to God that we made it to Matagalpa in one piece. haha
Nicaragua! ~Part One~
The Journey to Matagalpa
I left Charlotte, NC sometime in the afternoon on July 17th. After a 3 hour layover in Miami (and some entertaining rides on the SkyTrain) I met up with other Ultimate Workout kids. I instantly made connections with some of them, and we were fast friends. After clearing customs and getting through the passport checks in Managua, Nicaragua, we were greeted very loudly and enthusiastically by other UW's. By now, it's nightime and we were all exhausted and very hungry. Finally, a group of us loaded up on an old school-bus (the favorite Nicaraguan form of transportation) and started the trek to a SDA school, where we spent the night. We had out first taste of Nicaraguan bus driving, which we would all come to love and actually prefer to safe, boring American driving. We arrived at the school, which was off of a crazy dirt road (we ran over a chicken on the way...) and settled in for the night. It was hot as all get out, and huge moths and other large bugs terrorized some of the girls. Screams were heard throughout the building, and the boys tried to heroically kill/catch/destroy the bugs without much success. The next morning, after a dubious breakfast, our group loaded up on a sketchy bus (there were pictures of the Twin Towers blowing up and Osama bin Laden smiling down from heaven on the back...) and got stuck in the driveway for about 20 minutes. The bus was overloaded and bottomed out. Not a good way to start out the trip, but it was pretty indicative of the way it was gonna be the rest of the way. The bus ride was only supposed to be 3 hours long. ("Supposed" to be) Within moments, a heated discussion was under way as we all argued about which was better: USA or Canada. That remained a hot-topic for the entirety of the trip. Anytime there was a moment of silence, somebody would bring up the odd Canadian accents, or the funny southern accents, American ingenuity vs. Canadian ingenuity, Oh Canada vs. Star Spangled Banner. Football vs. Hockey. ect. ect. (All I can say is "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free!!!")
The bus broke down about 2 hours into the trip. We were stranded at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere for 5 hours. (It was a rather odd place..drug paraphernalia was scattered on the ground) It was a bonding experience! We found ways to entertain ourselves and all got to know each other. Finally, after the bus was fixed we loaded back up and continued on to Matagalpa, our destination. Once again, that's easier said than done. Along the way, we passed beautiful, lush, green countryside. Soon, if began to rain for the second time that day and we all got a little worried. To get to the school where we'd be staying, the bus would have to ford a river. We reached the river, and lo and behold it was too deep for the bus to cross. After and hour of waiting (During that time I traipsed around the woods looking for a place to use the bathroom) our luggage was brought over in a pick-up truck, and a lot got soaking wet. Next, all 30 of us crowded into the same pick-up tuck (at once) and we were all transported up the river to the our final location. Bonding experience. We all were thankful to God that we made it to Matagalpa in one piece. haha
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| Getting ready to load up! |
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| As I said, the bus was rather sketchy. |
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| Typical Nicaraguan countryside. |
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| Hangin' out for 4 hours in the while the bus was repaired. |
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| The river our bus couldn't cross and drive up. |
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| The front of our unique bus. |
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| 30 people in the back of one pick up? Oh yes. We are MATAGALPA! |
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
One more week!
Today is the first rainy day in awhile, and the perfect time for me to try to catch up on some blogging.
As many of you know, in a week, I am leaving for a mission trip to Nicaragua. I'm finally done with my necessary immunizations, and the past few days I've been making shopping lists and gathering the needed items to take along with me. I'm super excited for this trip...can't wait! The area where I'll be working is known for it's moderate temperatures and is surrounded by mountains and coffee plantations. Unfortunately, there won't be any internet access, so I won't be able to contact anyone while I'm gone. Please pray for the entire mission group going down there, that we will impact many lives for Christ and remain healthy and safe. (and that my Spanish will miraculously improve, and I won't get a farmers tan!!!!) Thanks so much, and I hope all of you are enjoying summertime.
~CMC
Sunday, June 3, 2012
The Life and Times of Ava
Summer break is a wonderful thing that I love with all of my heart. I've even learned to love mowing the grass! With the end of school, comes the start of the 'Curtis Birthday Season'. Hannah just turned 11, and tomorrow Ava is turning 5. (Dad, Mom, Will and Emma follow close behind)
Since Ava's birthday is coming up, I think I'll dedicate this post to her.
From the day Ava arrived in the family 5 years ago, life has been filled with more abundant joy and laughter. Ava is such a precocious people person, she loves being social. (as many of you know) One of her favorite pastimes is Uno. She's pretty slick...she tries to play what she calls "Ava rules" but usually that doesn't go over very well with her opponent. "Ava rules" include her dealing the deck, (where she just so happens to get a fistful of wild cards) her never receiving any penalties, and she never draws any cards.
She is the oddball in the family since she doesn't like to hike, stating "My legs are too short." But, she wants to go backpacking with Dad, Will and I this weekend...
Ava is constantly hungry, because she views dinner time as a social outlet, and hardly eats any food due to her constant talking. A little while ago, Ava told Mom that she was hungry. Mom replied, "Well, we just had dinner!" Ava responded emphatically, "I AM A GROWING MAN!"
She is also very sure of her plans for the future. One of her husband requirements is that he only drinks "Root Beer, not real beer." When she grows up, she wants Dad to build her a house in the back yard.
I'm pretty sure Ava thinks she's the oldest of the family...she likes to call me "Kid" and while she attempts to boss us around, her plans are generally thwarted.
Ava's nightly prayer are also really precious, and sometimes humorous. "Dear Jesus, please help us to be able to figure what outfits to wear while we're at the beach...."
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVA!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Breathe in, breathe out...
Tying a string around my finger reminding me to breathe might be helpful for me right now. Life's been incredibly busy, and we're all hangin' on for the ride.
I turned 16 since I've last posted, and Sunday I had a really fun party. Pretty much everyone left limping, sore and muddy. According to the guys, that's a true sign of a great time. Anyway, I had a wonderful 15th year, and I can't wait to enjoy my 16th. I'm thankful for my amazing family that makes my life so special. I can't even begin to count all of my blessings.
Tuesday night I broke my finger through an *ahem* unfortunate set of circumstances that include late night pinkie wars. It's pretty painful...bruised, swollen, crooked and taped. I'll never be a hand model, but I'll get over that. BUT, you know, it's been a couple weeks since anyone in the Curtis family has been injured, so I'd say it's about time.
Right now Boone is kinda freaking out because it's been 60-70 degrees that past few days, and next week we're supposed to get SNOW.
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